2024.07.25
Direction of PHD Corporate Technology Sector's R&D Strategies towards 2040
Technology Future Vision: An Ever Evolving Vision for A Brighter Future
A Society Where Individual Choice Naturally Leads to Caring for Each Other and the Planet
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Looking towards 2040, Corporate Technology Sector of Panasonic Holdings has established its Technology Future Vision, an ever evolving vision to make continuous contributions to society and customers. The future we envision is a“co-caring society built on thoughtful choices”, a society where individual choice naturally leads to caring for each other and the planet. We interviewed Tomoko Katayama of Panasonic Holdings Corporation, who was involved in formulating the vision, about its outline and the thinking behind it.
Tomoko Katayama
Technology Planning Office, Strategy Planning Department
Panasonic Holdings Corporation
After joining the company in 2008, Tomoko Katayama worked on software development for digital audiovisual equipment. She was then involved in new business development in Japan and North America as well as developing logistics systems. Later, she was engaged in the formulation of a group-wide future vision in the corporate planning department. In October 2021, she was transferred to Corporate Technology Sector and took her current post. During the development of the Technology Future Vision, she worked as an organizer to promote this vision's formulation.
What is the Technology Future Vision?
How did this vision emerge?
With the major shift in our company's environment, we have held continuous discussions over the past year from the perspective of how we can contribute to society and customers. We set 2040 as our target year, considering the time needed to make the developmental leap from existing technologies and business areas as well as to technically validate the vision's developments. Needless to say technology is a key driver in shaping the future, but it is not the only factor in forming the future. As the Corporate Technology Sector of Panasonic Holdings Corporation, we envisioned the society we want to achieve in the future and drew up technology roadmaps towards this vision in collaboration with various departments.
We visualized a variety of social situations and the enabling technologies that support them in the background to illustrate the contributions we could make from a long-term perspective.
The upper part of the diamond represents the real world, while the lower part represents the cyber world. The arrows connecting the two worlds represent the mechanisms of the CPS (Cyber-Physical System), which integrates and optimizes the vast real world through cyberspace. This diagram illustrates how green, clean resources and energy are introduced into society from the upper left side. Through the activities of various stakeholders, these resources are distributed to communities, households, and individuals. Through these processes, data related to life and the environment are collected and analyzed in cyberspace, and then returned to life and society as services and solutions.
I imagined something like flying cars and space exploration.
I get that a lot (laughs). Despite having such discussions in the beginning, we all eventually concluded that the Panasonic Group's technology is characterized by being grounded in people's daily lives. After much consideration, we concluded that in the future society we envision, a society where individual choice naturally leads to caring for each other and the planet. Moreover, we identified three factors that play key roles in developing such a society: energy and resources, a sense of fulfillment, and care and consideration.
The choices that are profitable and beneficial for you and for others
What does that mean?
What we call resources, including natural resources, the time we've been given, and our skills, are all limited. However, if we can identify people in need of these resources and accommodate each other's needs, then we may be able to create a mutually beneficial system for everyone. We are working to develop a mechanism where the choices you make for yourself can also benefit your family members, society, as well as other stakeholders, including the natural surroundings. This endeavor is summarized in the term "co-caring" a key phrase supporting the Technology Future Vision.
By utilizing the earth's and society's finite resources without waste, you can discover options that are profitable and beneficial for both you and others.
Concept Movie
OK…but this is still difficult to comprehend. Can you provide any concrete image?
Let me explain using a familiar example, which came up during the discussion of the future vision. When we eat lunch, the menu we get often shows information like nutrients and calories, in addition to the prices. If we added extra information such as environmental burden and food waste,* then some people might notice this and choose meals that reduce the environmental impact. This leads to the hypothesis that visual information can change people's choices, where individuals who choose eco-friendly menu items can feel a small sense of satisfaction. The underlying concept of co-caring involves the establishment of a mechanism where resources are accessible and transparent and encourage individuals who consequently gain a sense of satisfaction or meaning, to continue changing their behavior.
*Food somehow discarded without being consumed. The term particularly refers to the losses generated by retailers, restaurants, and consumers.
Thank you for this clear example. Now, it's much easier to understand the concept.
If such societal structures become widespread, then we may be able to realize a society where we concern about day to day safety, security and resources such as energy are no longer compromised in future . We held repeated discussions with enthusiasm that our role may not draw much attention, but is definitely critical.
Towards the achievement of a co-caring society
I see. Now I understand the future that Panasonic envisions. How will this vision affect our technology?
There is no significant change from the direction of technology development announced when the operating company system was launched.(Japanese only) With this vision, we have verbalized the society we want to create and presented anew the purpose of our technology. Through this presentation, we will (1) construct a story with a clearer vision towards 2040 and (2) focus on development with an awareness of not only individual core technologies but also the integration and combination of technologies aiming for their social implementation. I believe that one of the values of the Technology Future Vision is that it serves as a compass to this end.
When all individuals engaged in technology development talk together about the envisioned society and work toward scaling the mountain, I'm confident that our technologies will be connected group-wide like dots forming lines and lines forming spaces, accelerating our efforts.
Glass building material integrated with perovskite solar cells.
Installation on a balcony
For instance, in the field of energy, the use of energy devices like perovskite solar cells will permit energy creation at any location. Furthermore, when combined with a distributed energy resource management system (DERMS), which adjusts the balance between electricity supply and demand, our technology can achieve distributed management of renewable energy. If we could provide our neighbors with self-generated renewable energy, then we would contribute not only to home energy management but also to community-wide energy management. Energy distribution can be optimized from a resident's perspective without requiring people to make individual energy-saving efforts and sacrificing convenience or comfort. Such a co-caring society can be achieved, because the Panasonic Group has extensive customer contacts and understands their lifestyles.
I understand that this is the kind of future that only the Panasonic Group can offer. Please share a concrete approach for realizing the envisioned future.
In order to achieve our vision, we must also work with business/technology partners, rather than collaborating only within the Group. While refining our own technologies, there will be cases where we develop new technologies and combine existing ones along with business partners. Therefore, we must also take into account such possibilities in our strategy. To this end, we will actively publicize the Technology Future Vision, both internally and externally, and promote co-creation efforts through a series of dialogues. The announcement of our vision marks the first step in this endeavor. I believe the future we envision awaits us beyond these efforts.
COLUMN
While engaging in the formulation of the vision, we faced various challenges, such as the use of difficult words or the lack of wow factors…(with an ironic laugh). It will take a while for the vision to permeate. The visual information helps employees to link the vision to concrete examples and thus to gradually understand the concept. But the mere announcement of the vision does not imply that the vision is not something to just be announced nor admired, but to be practiced. The vision itself does not provide the right answers either. I want the vision to be something each individual always bears in mind based on their own interpretation, incorporates in their daily activities, and refines continuously towards the society we aim to realize.
Concept movie expressing the world view of Technology Future Vision
＊Japanese only
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